Transcription
Some people are big picture thinkers. They generate ideas in broad brushstrokes. They can get an entire room to feel inspired. And then they may leave it to other people to fill in the details. That's where a lot of us often come in.
The projects vary. Maybe it's a code review, where you have to find the one errant ampersand that's keeping your code from building properly, or maybe it's planning an itinerary for a business trip to five cities in three time zones. Bonjour. Or a close edit of a white paper before it's released to the public. In all of those situations, increasing your attention to detail can mean the difference between being a critical member of a team or not.
We've built this course to help you first reflect on, and increase your attention to detail at work. By the end of this video, I want you to feel like you can start to integrate these tips into your own work environment like right now. Increasing your attention to detail requires improving your observational skills. True story. In 1999, NASA lost control of their Climate Orbiter after it flew too close to Mars. Why did it fly so close? Because someone had forgotten to convert centimeters in millimeters to inches and feet. Details matter even if you're not in the space business. Sometimes meeting a goal, or closing a deal will be predicated on the tiniest of tiny details that everyone has missed. But you. So how can you prepare for those moments? Well, I've got a few thoughts.
First, when you're working on a task you must avoid distractions, newsflash. Multitasking actually makes it harder to be productive. It has to do with our prefrontal cortex. Our brains weren't designed for heavy duty switching from this to that, to this to that. Once you've focused on a task, pay attention to the little details. Does every sentence in the list end with a period? Are the time zones in the itinerary all correct? And yes, are they using inches?
As someone who has built a lot of furniture from a particular big box store, I also want to impress upon you the importance of completely reading the directions before you begin a task. Have you heard of the professor who didn't think his students ever read his syllabus? Yup. He included a combination to a locker, which had $50 in it and said first come first serve. But by the end of the semester, the $50 bill was still there. Be thorough, and don't start work until you have a full view of things.
In addition to working on your observational skills, increasing your attention to detail requires a good amount of organizational skills. Let's say your boss stops you to ask how the processing meeting went and if you've been able to fill all of this week's orders. Your ability to give an honest, and effective answer requires being organized. How many orders are still pending? Well, they probably mentioned that in the meeting. What are the next steps coming out of that processing meeting? I'm sure that was also covered. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, what score would you give yourself when it comes to organization? Interesting. OK. Now, how do you improve?
First, make sure your schedule is up to date, and that it's on a calendar. And I would have just one calendar. That's where I'd add personal items like a dentist appointment, and it's where I'd add work appointments like weekly check in. You can definitely set the visibility of these personal appointments to private, so you don't have to share anything you don't want to. Also, I think it's a good idea to block time on the calendar to get certain things done. If you know you need an hour to review the latest schematics, find a free hour, book it, and get to work.
Next, choose one way for creating lists, and checking tasks off as you go. Your company might have a task tracking system that everyone uses. In that case, use it, or choose a digital tool you're familiar with, or get a pen and paper. Think about the situations where you'll need to take notes. I mean, if you're a teacher who can't pull out their cell phone and to write things down, pen, paper, post-it notes, all of those sound pretty effective to me. And finally, you also want to create routines throughout your day. This will improve your ability to stay focused. Maybe you always do inventory after lunch, or schedule meetings at the end of the day. You can create a routine for double checking your work, allowing enough time to get to work, focusing on just a single task until you complete it. No matter what, I would create time at the beginning, and end of each day to go over your calendar, and your task list. Find any items that need to be addressed, and create a plan to get that stuff done. These review sessions should definitely be on your calendar.
Everything we've discussed so far will increase your attention to detail. But displaying that ability also requires communication skills. In a workplace setting, that means communicating with confidence and with humility. Yup, you need them both. Think about a scale. Confidence on one side, humility on the other. Now, think about yourself. Which way does the scale tip? The answer, I bet, is it depends to whom you're communicating, what you're communicating about, the stakes of that communication. But here's the thing. Confidence is a learned skill. There are ways to improve.
First, practice active listening. Listening becomes active when you really focus on both the verbal and nonverbal language that's being communicated. And when you respond in such a way that makes the other speaker, feel heard and validated. Great communicators know the difference between being in dialogue, and giving a speech between what a person says and what another person hears. So get in the habit of practicing active listening. Got that? Good. Because the next practice is to get in the habit of summarizing what you're hearing. This gives you a chance to confirm what you think you heard, it also shines a light on where there's a disagreement, or where a decision still needs to be made. Don't take too long with your summary. Stick to the main points. This can also happen after a little bit of time has gone by. Last week, you mentioned adding a senior coordinator to help with this account. And I think that's a great idea. We're calling that key concept will immediately demonstrate that you were truly listening.
Increasing your attention to detail can really make such a difference in your effectiveness at work, and how much you enjoy being there. So when your boss stops you to ask how the processing meeting went, and if you've been able to fill all of this week's orders, use the tips we covered in this video. Everything here can be learned. And you can do it. Just begin. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe, and check out our other courses. First, when you're working on a task, you must avoid distractions. Did you see the fly literally go by my head as I said that? That was perfect.